Grain car barricade



Oct. 6, 1959 'r. o. METCALFE, 4R 2,907,385

GRAIN CAR BARRICADE Filed Aug. 20, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1

54 Ifl" I Thomas 0. Marco/fail:

INVENTOR.

Get. 6, 1959 V 'r. o. METCALFE, JR 2, 07, 85

' GRAIN CAR BARRICADE Filed Aug. 20, 1958 x 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.3

Thomas 0. Mefcalfe, J1:

INVENTOR.

United States PatentO 2,907,385 GRAIN CAR BARRICADE Thomas 0. Metcalfe, Jr., Canton, Miss.

Application August 20, 1958, Serial No. 756,106

' 6 Claims. (Cl. 160-368) This invention relates to a barricade for a railway grain car.

lnorder to use a car for grain, it is the present practice touse 'what are considered to be conventional paper doors to prevent loss of grain. An object of this invention is to provide a novel and considerably improved barricade to replace conventional paper doors that are now in common use.

A barricade constructed in accordance with the invention has ,a wooden frame made of an upper and a lower section so as to facilitate handling. The two sections are constructed of a sound grade of hardwood, nailed sec'urely, and the lower section is reinforced vertically with steel strapping. The frame is placed across the boxcar door opening and nailed to the doorposts with four tenpenny nails in each post, using holes that are predrilled in the frame. Sheets of heavy reinforce-d and'laminated kraft paper or corrugated kraftboard are cut to size and shipped to the customer at the same time as the frames. One sheet of this paper or cardboard is then stapled to the sides and the floor of the car and across the frame at the time of installation. For this purpose a regular hand staple gun may be used.

Among the principal features of the invention are the way in which the horizontal boards are arranged so as to'provide maximum strength at the point of greatest load; the manner in which the two vertical steel straps are woven behind the bottom board of the frame and nailed to the floor of the car so as to insure maximum resistance to bulge; the manner in which the vertical center boards or uprights are arranged so that the center upright of the bottom section of the frame overlaps the bottom board of the top section of the frame, and the center upright of the top section of the frame overlaps the top board of the bottom section of the frame. The two sections of the frame are, therefore, interlocked in order to resist outward pressure of the load.

The strapping is perforated and attached securely to the frame at the time of manufacture so that it is only necessary to nail it to the floor of the boxcar at the time of installation, for instance three tenpenny or eightpenny nails may be used in each strap.

There are numerous advantages to this invention. To list only a few, the cost to the buyer is considerably less than conventional boxcar doors that are used to convert the boxcar to a grain car. The only other coopering materials needed are approximately twenty-eight tenpenny nails and some staples. This plus the cost of the sections and covering of the barricade is considerably less than the total cost, including coopering materials, of paper doors that are presently in use. There is less doorpost damage because of fewer installation nails. This barricade can be used over and over again with only a new application of paper required. There is no extra lumber or lath required in that the barricade is complete in and of itself. There are no special double headed nails that have to be purchased, and it is easy to cooper the doors. There are only twenty-eight nails in a typical 7 2 v embodiment of this invention as opposed to approximately one hundred and sixty nails for'conventional' paper doors. There are no bands that have to be tensioned. properly as in ordinary paper doors. Sound doorposts; are not essential as they are inconventional paper door installations. The barricade of this invention is easierj toclean up after shipment and does not remain as 'a' group of'loose straps. The frame sections of this invention are easy to store and may even be left in the weather.

- the frame sections.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3. I

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Figure 3. I

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the straps for the lower section of the barricade. v

In the accompanying drawings there is a boxcar 10' fragmentarily shown," this boxcar having two doo'rposts 12 and 14 on the sides of the door opening 16, and having a floor 18. The other parts of the boxcar are not shown since they do not bear directly on barricade 20 which exemplifies the invention.

Barricade 20 is made of a frame 22 having an'upper section 24 and a lower section 26 that are connected together during installation across door opening 16. Lower section 26 is made of three horizontal, flat boards 27, 28 and 29 which are fastened to two flat vertical boards 30 and 31. A center board or upright 32 is parallel to the boards or'sides Mind 31 but:is on the inner face of boards 29, 28 and-27, while sides 30 and 31 are on the outer faces of boards 29, 28 and 27.

Two metal straps 36 and 37 are attached'to the three boards 27, 28 and 29. Each strap is identical (Fig. 6)

with the typical strap 37 shown in detail. It has a downwardly opening hook 40 at its upper end with a nail hole 41 in the shorter side thereof. The hook is adapted to engage over the board 29 (see Fig. 1). The flat intermediate part 42 of the strap has an ofiset 43 at its lower end, the offset joining to a part 44 which is parallel to part 42 but which is laterally spaced from it by offset 43. A right angular foot 45 is attached to the lower extremity of part 44 and has a plurality of nail holes 46 through which nails are adapted to pass. The foot 45 is disposed on the floor 18 and nailed in place. The offset 43 is passed through the space between boards 27 and 28. Part 44 fits flush against the outer surface of board 27, and part 42 fits flush against the inner surfaces of boards 28 and 29. In this way the strap is interwoven between the boards of the lower section 26 of frame 22.

The upper section 24 is made of four horizontal boards 50, 51, 52 and 53. There is a center board or upright 54 attached to the outside surfaces of boards 50, 51, 52 and 53. Two fiat, vertical sides 56 and 58 are also attached to the outer surfaces of boards 50, 51, and 52 thereby completing the upper section 24.

The spacing of sides 30, 56 from sides 31, 58 is such that these sides fit between the doorposts 12 and 14 (see Fig. 3), but all of the horizontal boards are long enough so that their ends fit flush against the inside surbut the center boards oruprights 32 and 54 overlap each other and portions of the'adjacent boards 29 and 50 of the two sections. Center board 32 fits over the inside surface of board 50, and the lower part of upright or center board 54 fits over a part of the outside surface of board 29. Interlocked in this way, the two sections have considerable strength against lateral pressure of the grain in the boxcar.

After installing the frame in the manner described, a flexible panel or covering 70 is attached in place over the frame, preferably by stapling it in place. The panel is cut 'to correct size and may be made of any suitable material, for instance kraft paper, kraft corrugated paper, or flexible plastic. The edges of the covering 70 are stapled to the walls of the boxcar adjacent to the side posts 12 and 14, but on the inside surface of the boxcar. The upper edge of the covering is stapled to the board 24, and the lower part of the covering 70 is creased at right angles to the upper part thereof, and is stapled to the floor 18 of the boxcar.

It is understood that various changes may be made in this invention without departing from the scope of the following claims. For instance, the number of boards in either or both sections may be altered. The size and dimensions may also be altered. Any and all modifications of the invention which fall within the scope of the following claims may be resorted to.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A barricade for a boxcar door opening in a wall of the boxcar and at the floor level thereof, said barricade comprising a frame having an upper section and a lower section, said sections having reinforcing uprights, the upright of one section overlapping the other secton, said sections having ends adapted to fit flush against the inside surfaces of the wall of the boxcar adjacent to the opening therein, said sections being demountable for reuse, at least one strap attached to said lower section and having afoot adapted to be fastened to the floor of the boxcar, at least said lower section having a plurality of spaced boards that are approximately horizontal when installed at the door opening of the boxcar, and said 4 strap interwoven between at least two of said spaced boards.

2. The barricade of claim 1, wherein said strap has a hook at one end with one of said boards nesting in said hook.

3. The barricade of claim 1, wherein said frame is constructed essentially of wood and has holes therein, and nails adapted to fasten said frame sections in place by being passed through said holes and attached to the boxcar wall and the doorposts at the sides of said door opening.

4. A demountable and reusable barricade for converting a boxcar to a grain car, said barricade having an upper section and a lower section that are separable from each other, said lower section having boards whose ends are adapted to be fastened to the inside surface of the side wall of the boxcar, said upper section having boards whose ends are adapted also to be fastened to the inside surface of the wall of the boxcar with the boards extending transversely across the door opening, sides attached to the boards of the individual sections and adapted to fit within said opening, and center boards secured to the outside surface and inside surface respectively of said upper and lower sections and overlapping said sections to interlock said sections when installed in the door opening. A

5. A demountable and reusable barricade for converting a boxcar to a grain car, said barricade having an upper section and a lower section that are separable from each other, said lower section having boards whose ends are adapted to be fastened to the inside surface of the side wall of the boxcar, said upper section having boards whose ends are adapted also to be fastened to the inside surface of the wall of the boxcar with the boards extending transversely across the door opening, sides attached to the boards of the individual sections and adapted to fit within said opening, center boards secured to the outside surface and inside surface respectively of said upper and lower sections and overlapping said sections to interlock said sections when installed in the door opening, and reinforcing straps secured to said lower section and adapted to fasten to the floor of the boxcar.

6. The barricade of claim 5, and a covering over said sections and adapted to be stapled in place.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

